


Emily Prentiss could be a constant, too

by oliverbrnch



Series: BAU Team as Family [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: (both mentioned) - Freeform, (mentioned) - Freeform, Autistic Spencer Reid, Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid Friendship, Emily Prentiss Has ADHD, Emily Prentiss Needs a Hug, Gay Spencer Reid, Gen, Lesbian Emily Prentiss, Neurodivergent Penelope Garcia, Penelope Garcia & Spencer Reid Friendship, Team as Family, The BAU Team as Family (Criminal Minds)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29381829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oliverbrnch/pseuds/oliverbrnch
Summary: Emily Prentiss's brain moves too fast for her to keep up at times, which leads to rapid-fire leg bouncing and pen-clicking, which, in turn, draws the attention of Spencer Reid.So, Spencer helps Emily refocus when her brain isn't cooperating.
Relationships: Emily Prentiss & Spencer Reid, Penelope Garcia & Emily Prentiss
Series: BAU Team as Family [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2157342
Comments: 13
Kudos: 95





	Emily Prentiss could be a constant, too

**Author's Note:**

> A commentor on "Emily Prentiss Isn't Elle" mentioned that they'd like to read more about Emily's ADHD and about Spencer helping her with it, which really inspired me to write this! I loved the idea, so thank you sincerely for it! I love a good Spencer Reid & Emily Prentiss friendship. 
> 
> I don't own Criminal Minds, or else there would be way more BAU Team as Family scenes.

“Emily Prentiss, your leg bouncing is shaking my desk and your pen clicking is making it difficult for me to think,” Spencer spun in his office chair to face Emily across the aisle. The raven-haired woman was hunched over her desk, one ear covered by a cupped hand, as her left knee bounced up and down at an incessant pace and her free hand clicked a pen at a similar rapid-fire pace. “What’s wrong?” 

“Sorry, it’s like my brain is going so fast that I can’t focus on anything other than the thoughts bouncing off the inside of my skull,” Emily complained quietly, her voice low as she shot a worried glance at Derek, who was obliviously bobbing his head to whatever music he was listening to. With a sigh of relief, she gestured to her messy desk and continued, “And I can’t find whatever file I’m supposed to be working on, and I forgot which one it even is!” 

“Hotch asked you to work on the Clements case earlier,” Spencer recalled, but Emily shook her head, looking frustrated as she bit her lip. 

“No, this is one JJ asked me to give my opinion on as our next case,” Emily’s fist tightened in her hair and the pen clicking resumed, which made Spencer’s skin buzz annoyingly. 

Spencer recognized at least a couple of these behaviors as stimulatory, but Emily had ADHD, and unique stimulatory needs, so any database of ways to help her he could come up with had to be specifically useful to her, and that was too many variables to narrow down without any other information from her end. He had a couple of ideas, though, and he decided it probably wouldn’t hurt and they could talk about whatever her problem with Derek knowing things was later, when she wasn’t actively clicking her pen and looking like she might spontaneously combust. 

“Okay, what if I organize your files and take the completed ones to Hotch so it’s easier to narrow down which files are the one you’re looking for? You go, go get one of those good coffees from the cafeteria, not the break room, and try this,” Spencer rattled off easily, rummaging through his messenger bag for his sound-cancelling headphones and a stim toy. He found one with buttons that mimicked the clicking of a pen and figured that Emily getting her clicking out on something other than a pen, far away from him, was an excellent idea. “Take these, and go take a walk, and I’ll help you find your missing file when you get back.” 

Emily shot him a grateful, albeit uncharacteristically shy, smile as she accepted the headphones and the stim toy. The moment it clicked under her fingers, she looked enthralled, and quickly slipped the headphones over her ears and took off for the cafeteria, seemingly a little more at ease. 

Spencer wondered, as he slipped into Emily’s desk chair, why she didn’t get up and walk around earlier, if it’d help, but it occurred to him that executive dysfunction was common in people with ADHD, never mind, how often was it that he’d abandon his desk full of work to walk away from overstimulation? It was a bit hypocritical of him, and he vowed to try to help Emily remember to step away if she needed to. 

Spencer easily sorted the files into finished and unfinished piles, setting aside the folder Emily was halfway finished with. Still no elusive JJ’s file, so he continued sprucing up the desk by collecting the myriad of pens and pencils in between the layers of folders and returning them to cupholder, then tucking the stapler and tape dispenser against the barrier between Emily’s desk and Derek’s. Humming to himself, Spencer scooted the chair away from the desk because he noticed a couple pens on the floor and bent to collect them. 

Two thoughts simultaneously rocketed through his brain: _‘eww,’ _for the pens he was holding had gnawed-on ends, and _‘there it is,’ _because there was a folder with a sticky note attached that read ‘Emily—mind giving me your opinion? Thanks, JJ’ sitting innocently underneath Emily’s desk.____

____Spencer retrieved the runaway folder and set it in the middle of Emily’s desk, before returning to his desk to throw away the chewed-on pens and find some hand sanitizer. He tucked the little bottle into his pocket after applying a liberal amount to his hands, then added his own finished files on top of Emily’s and collected the whole stack carefully into his arms. Spencer turned on his heel and strode towards Hotch’s office._ _ _ _

____“Have Morgan and Prentiss been pawning their files off on you again, Reid?” Hotch quirked an eyebrow at the sheer number of papers in the genius’s arms._ _ _ _

____“Oh, no, Hotch,” Spencer set the stack in Hotch’s designated corner before clasping his hands in front of him. “Emily needed to go take a walk, so I offered to organize her desk and take her finished files to you for her.”_ _ _ _

____Hotch’s other eyebrow joined the first in surprise, and he looked like he was thinking for a moment before speaking._ _ _ _

____“So, she’s ‘Emily,’ now?” the unit chief spoke lowly, like it was a secret just between him and Spencer. The genius’s face flushed a little, recalling his previous unadulterated distaste for the new agent._ _ _ _

____“She’s compassionate, she has a sarcastic sense of humor I find amusing, and she has extended her hand in friendship to me on at least three other occasions,” Spencer rocked back and forth on his heels as he fixated on a tuft of Hotch’s inky-black hair rather than his whiskey-brown eyes. “She gave me a fidget toy on her first day here, has brought me the good coffee from the cafeteria the first time she went, and she helped me pick up and organize files I accidentally knocked off my desk.”_ _ _ _

____“So, she’s liable to become one of us?” Hotch spoke carefully, and Spencer felt the weight of that statement on his shoulders. Was he the deciding factor? That was a heavy thought._ _ _ _

____“Yes,” Spencer decided on. Emily certainly could become one of them, another piece of the puzzle that was the BAU. “It appears as though she’s back from the cafeteria, and I want to tell her that I found the file she was looking for. See you later, Hotch.”_ _ _ _

____Hotch waved goodbye to the genius, a small smile twisting the corners of his stoic mouth when he turned his back, bouncing back towards Emily, heralding a takeout cup of coffee in each hand and a paper bag tucked under one elbow, headphones slung around her neck, and an oblivious Derek, still half-dancing in his seat to his music._ _ _ _

____“I spoke to Penelope Garcia and she recommended the blueberry scones, so I got us both one,” Emily explained with a smile as she passed over his cup of coffee. “She invited me back to, uh, ‘dance it out’ if I ever need to. Thank you for the suggestion of the walk and the stuff, and thank you for helping with my desk.”_ _ _ _

____“You’re welcome!” Spencer flashed her a small smile, sipping the coffee, and giving an appreciative sound when the mocha and whipped cream met his tongue. “Thank you for the coffee. Oh, and I found that file you were looking for. Penelope is very friendly and would probably be very pleased if you ever took her up on her offer. Sometimes, she needs to take dance breaks because she gets overwhelmed too.”_ _ _ _

____Spencer didn’t quite notice Emily’s awed look at him, like she’d never met so many neurodivergent people in one place, he was too busy catching Hotch’s eye and holding up four fingers with a pleased beam._ _ _ _

____Yeah, Emily Prentiss could stay._ _ _ _

____He missed Elle, sure, but there were other constants, like Derek bobbing his head to music, Hotch’s hidden protective affection, Penelope’s dance breaks that she occasionally roped him into._ _ _ _

____Emily Prentiss could become a constant too._ _ _ _

____"What was the case JJ wanted your opinion on?" Spencer asked, leaning against Emily's desk as she settled back into her desk chair. She looked pleased, and opened the folder to show him as he sipped on his coffee._ _ _ _

____"It's weird, really, because the unsub keeps calling 911 before the murder, and it seems like there's more than one unsub, but they've only found one set of prints," Emily explained, her brows furrowed._ _ _ _

____"That is definitely strange," Spencer nodded as she leaned back in her seat._ _ _ _

____"Do you think this is a case that could use us?" Emily asked, her arms crossed. Spencer's chest warmed at the demonstration of trust she was offering him._ _ _ _

____"Yes, I do think we might be useful here," Spencer agreed, and Emily smiled at him, before standing and collecting the file._ _ _ _

____"I'll go let JJ know then! Thank you, Spencer!" Emily's boots tapped against the bullpen floor as she strode away, and he realized it was the first time she'd called him 'Spencer' and not 'Reid.'_ _ _ _


End file.
